Burdekin River (below Dam)
Contents |
Subcatchments
Smaller Catchments within the Burdekin River below dam Catchment include:
- Glendon Creek
- Burdekin River
- Bell Creek
- Pine Creek
- Dozer Creek
- King Creek
- Bonnie Doon Creek
- Alligator Creek
Topography
Vegetation
Riparian Habitat
The following information is summarized from the ACTFR report: Assessing the condition of riparian vegetation in the Burdekin catchment using satellitte imagery and field surveys by Leo Lymburner and John Dowe. 2006. This report can be accessed from the report section below.
iTRARC analysis of Riparian Habitat indicates that this subcatchment has gone from relatively poor (C+) condition to very poor (D) condition. This is largely due to an increase in the amount of gullies/scalds in the subcatchment as well as floodplain and upper catchment clearing.
Wetlands
As for the lower Burdekin River, the flow regime, water quality and aquatic habitat of the Burdekin River below the dam has been highly modified by irrigation releases of elevated water turbidity from the Burdekin Falls Dam. This is likely to have significantly affected ecological processes in the river. Although knowledge of the exact effects are limited, it appears to still be relatively healthy (Butler 2006), just highly modified from natural. The reach also includes three weir pools, the largest and most downstream of these – Clare Weir – restricts fish passage up the river, although a new fishway was installed there in 2006.
Burdekin River(below Dam)wetland condition summary...
Water
SedNet Modelling of Water Quality
The following statistics are summarized from the CSIRO report: Improved SedNet Modelling of Grazing Lands in the Burdekin Catchment by Kinsey-Henderson, A., Sherman, B. and Bartley, R. 2007. This report can be accessed from the report section below.
Model results for the Burdekin River (below the dam) sub-catchment are summarized as follows:
- Subcatchment modelled area: 2,583sq. km.
- Source contributions: Hillslope = 20%; Gully = 9%; Streambank = 72%
- Area of subcatchment with <50% ground cover: 529 sq. km or 20% of subcatchment
- Hillslope sediment supply: 590 kg/ha/yr
- Total suspended sediment (flow weighted) supply: 772 kt/yr
- Total suspended sediment supply (flow weighted ; normalized to area): 2990kg/ha/yr
- Mean Annual Flow: 9,380,369 ML
Supplementation has had a major impact on hydraulic habitat of the Burdekin River below the dam due to unseasonal flows. This has resulted in a major change in water quality due to releases and spills of unnaturally turbid water from Burdekin Falls Dam.
Water Quality Monitoring
There are no water quality data available for the Burdekin River (below dam) catchment.
Relevant information of Water Quality Monitoring in the Lower Burdekin River Basin can be found by following these links:
- Water Quality Monitoring
- Water Quality Monitoring results
- Event-based community water quality monitoring in the Burdekin Dry Tropics Region: 2002-2007. Volume 1
- Event-based community water quality monitoring in the Burdekin Dry Tropics Region: 2002-2007. Volume 2
Environmental Uses and Values
The following summary of environmental uses and values is based on information extracted from the following reports: Social, Economic, Cultural and Environmental Values of Streams and Wetlands in the Burdekin Dry Tropics Region by Greiner, R and Hall, N. 2006 and Burdekin Basin Draft Water Resource Plan by Queensland Dept. of Natural Resources, Mines and Water, 2006. The Greiner and Hall 2006 report may be accessed from the report section below.
Definition of Environmental Values in the Queensland Water Quality Guidelines
Aquatic Ecosystems:
The aquatic ecosystem values of the Burdekin River are considered to be Highly Disturbed (HD) due to the altered flow regime. Other parts of the Burdekin River (below dam) subcatchment are poorly known and while considered to be Slightly to Moderately Disturbed (SMD) as a consequence of the surrounding land use for cattle grazing, the biological communities are thought to remain in a healthy condition and ecosystem integrity is likely to be largely retained. No High Ecological Value (HEV) waters have been identified in the subcatchment.
Burdekin River below dam subcatchment draft HEV waters
Stock Watering:
Extensive cattle grazing. Use of water for stock watering.
Cultural and Spirtual:
Custodial use of water resources by Jangga and Birri traditional owners.
Landuse
Principle land uses within the Burdekin River (below Dam) subcatchment as a proportion of total area:
- Grazing: 95%
- Water: 3.5%
- Irrigated Sugar: .8%
- Irrigated horticulture & cropping: .5%
- Conservation & minimal use: .4%
- Urban & semi urban: Limited urban and semi urban activity use identified.
Grazing Land
Land Condition
Definition of ABCD land condition framework
No data available for land condition in the Burdekin River (below dam) sub-catchment.
Ground Cover
No data available for Ground Cover in the Burdekin River (below dam) sub-catchment.
Resource Condition Summary
Burdekin River (below dam) is a small subcatchment where the land use is almost exclusively grazing on natural pastures. The condition of riparian habitat in the subcatchment has undergone further decline over the last 30 years due to clearing of the floodplain and headwater streams. The catchment was in poor (C) condition in the 1970s and by 2004 its condition had declined to very poor (D). The flow regime and aquatic habitat of the Burdekin River below the dam has been highly modified by water releases of elevated turbidity from the Burdekin Falls Dam for irrigation purposes further downstream. This, and the construction of three weir pools that restrict fish passage, is likely to have significantly affected ecological processes in the river.
Streambank erosion is identified by models as the major source of sediment and particulate nutrients affecting water quality from within the Burdekin River (below dam) subcatchment, while hillslope erosion is also predicted to contribute substantially to the total sediment load. The rate of soil erosion is predicted to be extremely high and well above the Basin average, while the total soil loss from the subcatchment to waterways is also comparatively very high. There are no rapid assesment data for land condition and ground cover available for the subcatchment. However, analyses of ground cover from satelite imagery (reference) identify large areas of bare ground and high vulnerability to 'D' condition, particularly in the upper reaches and immediately below the Burdekin Falls Dam. The mean ground cover across the subcatchment declined from 92% in 1999 to 69% in 2004, but had only recovered to 83% in 2006.
Water quality in the Burdekin River (below dam) subcatchment is predicted by models to be only slightly impacted by suspended sediment during wet season event flows. However, the sediment load at end-of-catchment is derived not only from this subcatchment, but from almost of the entire Burdekin River catchment. There are no water quality monitoring data, however, with which to compare the modelled concentrations and loads.
Burdekin River (below dam) is identified as a priority subcatchment for rehabilitation on the basis of the large areas of bare ground and vulnerable 'D' condition land, high rate of soil erosion and predicted contribution to the total sediment load within the basin.
Draft Environmental Values
The aquatic ecosystem values of the Burdekin River are considered to be Highly Disturbed (HD) due to the altered flow regime. Other parts of the Burdekin River (below dam) subcatchment are poorly known and while considered to be Slightly to Moderately Disturbed (SMD) as a consequence of the surrounding land use for cattle grazing, the biological communities are thought to remain in a healthy condition and ecosystem integrity is likely to be largely retained. No High Ecological Value (HEV) waters have been identified in the subcatchment. Little is known about the human use Environmental Values of water in the subcatchment, which are thought to be limited to use for stock watering and the cultural and spiritual values of the Jangga and Birri traditional owners.
Maps
Burdekin River (below Dam)
Burdekin River (below Dam) Landuse (focus on Burdekin River (below Dam))
Burdekin River (below Dam) Wetlands
Burdekin River (below Dam) Geology
Please feel free to download the maps in the following formats:
- Catchment Layer as *.kmz (requires Google Earth)
Photos
- BurdekinRiverbelowDam1.jpg
- BurdekinRiverbelowDam2.jpg
- BurdekinRiverbelowDam3.jpg
Reports
- Assessing the condition of Riparian Vegetation in the Burdekin catchment for CCI (2.8 Mb)
- Assessing the condition of Wetlands in the Burdekin catchment for CCI (10 Mb)
- Water Quality Issues in the Burdekin Region (3.8Mb)
- Monitoring of sediments and nutrients in the Burdekin Dry Tropics region: 2005-06 wet season (4.3 Mb)
- Event based Water Quality Monitoring in the Burdekin Dry Tropics Region: 2004/05 wet season (3.1 Mb)
- A report into the water quality condition of the Burdekin River and surrounds based on the AIMS end-of-catchment sampling program (13.2 Mb)
- Limnological assessment and benchmarking of key sentinel wetlands in the Burdekin catchment
- Improved SedNet Modelling of Grazing Land in the Burdekin Catchment(812Kb)
- Economic, Cultural and Environmental values of streams and wetlands in the Burdekin Dry Tropics region. (23.5Mb)
- Draft High Ecological Value waters assessment for BDT WQIP
